Chapter 6
Liam Donvan left police headquarters and zipped up his North Face Parka and slipped on his gloves before heading out to meet up with army buddy Hunter West who worked for the Lone Wolf Agency.
Commander Burns had asked them to team up to search Reilly Flynn’s apartment to see if they couldn’t find anything suspicious at the Brownstone that he shared with his sister Harley.
By the time Liam reached the Chrome Bean on the Grainger Plaza, Hunter was waiting for him. “It’s a gorgeous day, but cold,” he said.
“I know,” Liam agreed. “Harley is expecting us in half an hour. Do you want to walk or take the ‘L’?”
“What do you think?” Hunter said. “I could have just met you there if you’d given me her address.”
“True,” Liam said as they began walking toward the loop station. “I wasn’t thinking. I had wanted Simone to go with us and keep Harley occupied while we search Reilly’s room, but she had a client meeting and couldn’t. I guess I was trying to reconfigure how it would go down.”
Hunter grinned. “That’s always been your problem. You think too much. If you’d told me this I could have arranged for Maggie to come and spend time with her this afternoon before she goes to the club.”
Liam shrugged. “Didn’t cross my mind. That would have been a great solution to the problem.”
“I’m sure we can figure this out on our own,” Hunter said. “After all. I am a lone wolf.”
Liam laughed. “I still think Hank is going to steal you away from Kenneally one of these days. You’ve been working too many cases with us lately.”
“Maybe,” Hunter said. “I’ll admit since I left Brotherhood and went to Lone Wolf I’ve grown and learned to deal with life outside of the military which has given me the ability to work with others in a team setting I lacked that when I first returned to the states.”
Liam nodded. “I hear you, brother. Meeting Maggie wouldn’t have anything to do with that?”
Hunter shrugged and a grin lifted the corners of his mouth. “It might.”
“It happens to all of us,” Liam said. “I sure have my hands full with Simone.”
“About that, are the two of you joining in the baby race?”
Liam hesitated. “Not yet,” he admitted. I’d love to, but she’s squeamish at the idea, so unless we’re miraculously blessed, I don’t see it happening for us anytime soon.”
They stopped outside of the ticket kiosk and purchased their fares. “What about the you and Maggie?”
“Have you ever seen a pregnant burlesque dancer?” Hunter chuckled.
“No.”
“There’s your answer.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“Are you okay with Simone feeling the way she does?”
“Not really,” Liam admitted. “But I love her, and I don’t want to rock the boat right now. I figure I’ll give her time with baby Christopher and then baby Rossi when it gets here.”
“And if that still doesn’t change her mind?”
“I’ll sabotage her birth control?” he said.
Hunter stared at him something like horror. “Are you freaking nuts?”
“I’m kidding, of course,” Liam said hastily.
“Bad joke. I don’t know what I would really do if she doesn’t come around on her own.
We’ve always had this bickering kind of wordplay about us, and it has worked.
Maybe I’ll take that approach with her, challenge her the way I did when we first met.
I swore up and down she wasn’t going to get me into bed when that was exactly what I wanted and of course that is what happened because the hotel flooded, and we had one bed in the hotel we were moved to instead of the two rooms she booked. ”
Their tram thundered into the station and they waited as the riders rushed out onto the platform to step inside the car and take their places. “Sounds like a technicality that worked out in your favor.”
Remembering that time, Liam smiled. “It was, but boy what a time we had on that adventure, So what about you and Maggie?”
“We have time. As a dancer she’ll eventually have to make a career change and she’s agreed to do that before it becomes impossible for us to start a family. I’m not worried.”
Liam nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Besides, she might get baby fever and decide it’s time rather than waiting with all the babies coming,” Hunter said.
“That is possible,” Liam agreed.
The tram took a tunnel for them to make a change from the blue to the green line, where they waited five minutes for the next tram to arrive. The three-minute ride sped them to their next stop and from there it was a short walk to the Brownstown where they could finally meet with Harley.
Matching black mourning wreaths with thin blue line bows hung on the dark stained double doors and Liam pressed the doorbell.
A woman in a blue dress answered and she regarded them carefully.
“You must be Mr. Donovan and Mr. West. I’m Fiona Creighton, Harley’s neighbor from down the street.
She’s lying down with a migraine and asked me to meet with you. ”
“She should have called,” Liam said. “We could have rescheduled if she isn’t feeling well.”
“She really wanted to get this over with,” Fiona explained. “And I’m really glad to help out. Do come in. I lived beside their grandparents for years and was delighted to meet Harley and Reilly when they moved in after their grandmother passed.”
“That’s nice of you,” Hunter said.
“It was the least I could do when I brought over those wreaths today and found her suffering from the migraine,” Fiona said. “Can I offer you gentleman something to drink? Coffee? Hot tea?”
“Coffee would be great,” Hunter said and Liam nodded.
They followed her into the kitchen where a pot of coffee sat on the burner. She took two cups from the cabinet and pointed at the selection of creamers and sweeteners on the counter. “Help yourselves.” She handed them the cups.
As they prepared their drinks, Fiona said, Reilly occupied the downstairs level and Harley has the upper floor.
They of course share all the other areas.
I know for a fact her grandparents never used the bottom floor when they lived here, especially in their later years.
I think they used it mainly for storage. ”
“Thank you for that information. We just need to have a look around for our commanders final report,” Liam said. “We’ll let you know when we have finished our search.”
“Of course. I’ll leave you to your work,” Fiona said. “If you need anything, let me know. I’ll be in the living room crocheting.”
Cup in hand, Hunter walked toward the foyer and then came back. “Do you mind pointing us in the direction of the stairs that lead to Reilly’s area?”
“Sorry. It’s through the laundry room,” she explained, leading the way.
It was a generous sized area with two stackable washers and dryers and a folding table in between the units, as well as a utility sink.
“Only the upstairs is accessible from the foyer. There’s also a private entrance to the backyard here. My Brownstone is the same way.”
“Makes it convenient if you wanted to rent out the basement as an apartment,” Liam said.
“Yes. My husband and I tried that for a few years and then we got tired of the hassle,” she replied. “Geraldine thought about it after Joseph passed– they were her grandparents– but I believe Harley persuaded her not to for her safety. And now it’s only Harley living in this big ole place.”
“With neighbors like you, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Hunter said. “Thank you for showing us around.”
Tears brightened her blue eyes but she managed to smile. “I’ll be in the living room.” She started to leave but stopped. “I’ll take your cups if you’ve finished.”
They passed them to her and watched her depart.
“She’s a font of information,” Liam said.
“Indeed.”
They turned on the overhead light at the top of the stairs that took them down to Reilly’s space. For a basement area, it was well lit with several windows along the upper portion of the outer walls that brought in natural light.
There was a bedroom, as well as an office and a living area downstairs. A small kitchenette with microwave, minifridge, and sink provided Reilly with everything he needed for food prep without having to go upstairs if he didn’t want to.
“Hmm. Interesting set up,” Hunter said. “A bit isolated.”
“Maybe with the hours he kept on the force it was easier this way than to make noise in the kitchen on the main level?” Liam suggested.
“There is that,” Hunter said. “But why would Harley not mention it?”
“Maybe she didn’t really consider this a real kitchen? It’s just a microwave for heating up something, like popcorn. It’s more on the scale of a dorm room. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Hunter looked at the area and nodded. “Yea. I see what you are saying.”
“I don’t even see any canned food or jars of peanut butter stored here,” Liam pointed out. “For one thing, there aren’t any cabinets. And I heard Reilly was a peanut butter freak. Always had a jar in his hand, shoveling that stuff in his mouth by the spoonful on his way to practice.”
“Really?” Hunter frowned in consideration. “He liked some peanut butter did he?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I like it too, but I don’t think I’m that crazy about it.”
“Me either,” Liam said. “Let’s check for prescription drugs. Brand said Harley has already searched here for those and any OTC drugs he might have been taking, but let’s do a thorough check so if asked we can honestly say we didn’t find anything.”
“Gotcha,” Hunter said. “I’ll look out here and in the office area if you want to take the bedroom and bath.”